The Danish-owned hotel chain Comwell Hotels has just published its ESG report for 2024, marking another important step in the chain's ambitious and long-term sustainability efforts. The report is based on a comprehensive double materiality assessment, which helps support the strategic priorities in both operations and the value chain.
"We don't just want to keep up with developments and fulfil legal requirements - we want to lead the way and create real change. Our goal of carbon-neutral operations by 2030 is ambitious, but we are on the right track. This year we have reduced our CO2 emissions by 12%, increased waste sorting and continued to invest in green energy and energy efficiency. Both the visible initiatives for guests and what we do behind the scenes count in the overall effort," says Mai-Britt Jensen, HR & Sustainability Director at Comwell Hotels.
Sustainability with strategic anchoring
ESG has been an integral part of Comwell's business strategy for a number of years, with strong support from both the Board of Directors and Group Management. With the 2024 report and the double materiality assessment, Comwell has further strengthened the strategic foundation and clarified which sustainability areas are most important to the business and Comwell's stakeholders.
The assessment - which was carried out in collaboration with external advisors - creates both direction and transparency and is also an important step in preparing for the upcoming EU directive, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Ambitious climate goals and visible results
Comwell aims to be carbon neutral in its own operations by 2030 and in the entire value chain by 2040, and 2024 has brought several concrete results in this endeavour: an overall 12% reduction in CO2 emissions, higher recycling of waste and continued investments in green energy and energy efficiency. Some of the initiatives are highly visible to guests - such as plant-rich dishes, waste sorting and Comwell's popular tapwall systems - while others are more behind the scenes, such as a new Code of Conduct and closer supplier partnerships
Comwell also joined the Science Based Targets initiative in 2023 as one of the highest standards for companies that want to set ambitious and binding targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Focus on well-being, talent and inclusion
Employee well-being and development continued to be a major focus for Comwell in 2024, including expanding its internal training efforts with a new talent academy that complements the Student Academy and the two sustainability-related programmes Green Chef and Green Hostmanship. In addition, the hotel chain has a dedicated focus on diversity and inclusivity, where the hotel chain became part of the Diversity Pact through the Confederation of Danish Enterprise and the government's initiative 'Ungeløftet'.
"Our employees are the core of Comwell. We believe that great job satisfaction, well-being, psychological security and professional pride are crucial to the success of our ESG efforts in practice," says Mai-Britt Jensen.
A shared responsibility
The path towards a more responsible and sustainable hotel operation and industry is largely through close collaboration and employees who are part of the journey. The chain therefore works actively to engage suppliers, guests and business partners in ESG efforts, which is a major focus area going forward:
"In 2025, we will focus even more on close supplier partnerships. Alone we can do a lot, but together we can achieve synergies and develop new initiatives together that reach new heights. By 2025, our goal is for 75% of our largest suppliers to be committed to our updated Code of Conduct, which is a good interim goal towards 2030, when all our suppliers will be audited," Mai-Britt Jensen concludes.
